GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a great tool for navigation, it can get you to places you have never even heard off without getting lost. It shows you the shortest route to get to your destination, some can even shows you alternative road so that you can avoid heavy traffic stretches. And also it can shows you point of interests and landmark and how far they are from your current location so that wherever you go, you know exactly where you are and what POIs are surrounding you.

SEREMBAN: Spare-parts dealer Ong Eng Ching learnt the hard way that Global Positioning System (GPS) for vehicles is not really foolproof – at a very costly RM138,000.

That was the amount he had paid in cash for a used Toyota Fortuner which a company had put up for sale via tender.

The father of three, who had wanted to take the family for more outings together, had successfully bid for the car.

“I then went to the insurance company to get cover for the car but was told to install an alarm system with GPS (global positioning system) first to prevent theft,’’ he said, adding that he then fixed the gadget for RM2,400.

However, he said the car was stolen from his house in Taman Merpati here while waiting for the transfer of ownership and insurance cover.

“I was about to leave for work at about 6am when I found the car missing from the porch. It was just a few days after installing the alarm system.

“I immediately alerted the GPS service provider and they told me that my car was detected near Bukit Paya at about 5am.

“But the company could not track down the car,’’ he told reporters at the office of Rasah MP Anthony Loke.

Ong said he was told fantastic things about the GPS system when it was sold to him.

“Now I have lost all my money as the car cannot be traced,’’ he said, adding that he could not recoup his losses because the car had no insurance cover.

Loke said he would seek legal advice on the matter.

“We want to assist Ong to see if he can recover some of his losses and if there was an element of negligence involved,” he said.

Loke said the authorities should also act against insurance companies which made it mandatory for car buyers to install additional security features to reduce the risk of the vehicles being stolen.